The Lagos State Government is expanding its waste management capacity with the planned deployment of 220 newly acquired compactor trucks to improve refuse evacuation across the state.

The Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Hamzat, who disclosed this on Saturday, said the additional trucks were part of measures to strengthen the existing Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste collection system and respond to the increasing volume of waste generated in Lagos.

Hamzat spoke during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Festac, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, where he said the state needed to increase its collection capacity as more people continued to move into Lagos.

“The state government will be bringing in another 220 trucks to make sure that we supplement our PSP,” he said.

The deputy governor said the growing population had placed additional pressure on the state’s waste infrastructure, making increased investment in refuse evacuation necessary.

“A lot of people are coming to Lagos, and therefore they generate waste. So part of what you can see that we are doing is that we are getting many more trucks to actually go and evacuate,” he said.

While announcing the intervention, Hamzat appealed to residents to use accredited PSP operators for waste disposal, rather than relying on cart pushers. He warned that the activities of unregulated waste collectors could make it difficult for government to track where refuse was ultimately disposed of.

“What we need our people to also do is to make sure that they patronise their PSP, not the cart pushers, because they are not organised. You don’t know where the waste is ending up,” he said.

Hamzat also cautioned residents against disposing of refuse in canals, drainage channels and other waterways, warning that such practices could obstruct the movement of stormwater and worsen flooding.

He said the responsibility for a clean environment could not rest solely with government, urging residents to regard environmental sanitation as a continuous responsibility rather than an activity observed only once a month.
“We cannot be a people without a healthy environment. It doesn’t matter what we do, a cleaner environment is what makes a city or a state sustainable,” he said.

The deputy governor said the state’s engagement with communities was aimed at building greater public participation in environmental management.
He also noted that although the Federal Housing Authority had responsibilities in Festac, residents and property managers in the area were still required to comply with Lagos State’s environmental regulations.

Hamzat commended the local government chairman and residents for turning out for the sanitation exercise, describing public participation as essential to maintaining a clean environment.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the government was already taking steps to address some of the operational challenges affecting waste evacuation.

Wahab said the deployment of 24-hour emergency response teams, alongside interventions at landfills and dumpsites, had contributed to improvements in waste evacuation. He disclosed that the government had also stepped up engagement with PSP operators to improve household waste collection and ensure that operators delivered better services.

According to him, the government had intervened in locations outside the normal operational areas of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to bridge gaps in refuse evacuation.

He said the state was supporting PSP operators to improve their capacity, while residents were expected to pay for waste collection services under the polluter-pays principle.

Wahab explained that the payment arrangement was intended to provide operators with the resources needed to deliver efficient services while ensuring residents received value for their money.

Beyond collection and disposal, he said Lagos was pursuing a broader transformation of its waste management system.

The commissioner said the state was moving away from the traditional “collect and dump” model towards a circular economy in which waste would increasingly be recovered and converted into useful resources.

He cited the material recovery facilities in Badagry and Epe and transfer stations at Solus and Olusosun as part of the infrastructure supporting the transition.

On cart pushers, Wahab said government was engaging with them but remained concerned about the environmental and security implications of indiscriminate waste disposal.

He said investigations had established that some cart pushers dumped refuse in drainage channels, road medians and other unauthorised locations, contributing to environmental degradation and flooding.

Meanwhile, the Head of Service, Bode Agoro, monitored the sanitation exercise in Bariga Local Council Development Area alongside Permanent Secretaries, including the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Omobolaji Gaji.

The officials visited Ewenla, Adetoke and Emmanuel Church streets, through Omobokun to New Garage, to monitor compliance and encourage residents to maintain clean surroundings.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Sunkanmi Oyegbola, Agoro urged residents to take ownership of their immediate environment.

He said government could not achieve the desired level of environmental cleanliness without the active participation of residents.

Agoro urged Lagosians to complement government’s investment in infrastructure by protecting public facilities and keeping their homes, streets and communities clean.

He maintained that a sustainable and healthy Lagos required shared responsibility between government, waste operators and residents.

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